A magnificent, seven GoodGym members came together to help Long Lane Pasture Nature Reserve. We gathered and chatted at the phoenix cinema. Niki talked about her holiday to Japan, and climbing Mount Fuji. Very movingly she said she couldn’t have done it without the regular fitness sessions with GoodGym! ( some say it even crossed her mind to do a litter pick at the top!) Cloud had her birthday at the weekend give her a shout out! Sisters Beattie and Rachel a watched a film on Ukraine, ... which they highly recommended! This group of five then ran the 2 km to the nature reserve where we met Maureen from the Friends group By this time, Jyothsna and Yesika had joined us. Now we were seven. Maureen let us go for a quick, jog around the reserve. We also stopped to do some lunges, squats and star jumps. We then got down to work with our litter, pickers and bags, removing rubbish from the local footpath. We then headed back to finish and warmed down just outside the Phoenix Cinema. Thanks for coming running and doing some good.

Our host cancelled today's task due to the rain forecast. Lucky us the Phoenix Cinema had a bunch of flyers at hand and we were able to improvise a run!

Beattie, Rachel, Niki, Theodore, Jyothsna and Cloud set off on from the cinema and run 5km while delivering flyers along the neighbouring streets.

Well done everyone for running in the rain and special shout out to Beattie who has completed now 50 good deeds and to Jyothsna for her come back to running after a mild injury!

keep up the great community work and check out the next tasks in your area!

A fantastic, five Goodgym members came together to help the friends of Friary Park. Four of us gathered at the Phoenix Cinema for a chat before setting off on the 5 km run down East Finchley High Street, into Glebelands and then up a steep hill to the park. It was a beautiful warm evening with the Sun starting to set we gathered around the newly restored statue of Queen Victoria. Apparently she had not liked the statue and had banished it and somehow it ended up in a suburban park. We then met up with Nick, who provided litter pickers and bags for us to spend the next half an hour collecting detritus. Joe add also joined us so we were now five! litter picking is a fun, mindful activity very goal orientated and we had several sacks at the end. Well done everyone for helping out and improving the park and encouraging the friends group in its activities. The friends group are looking to become a charity soon so they can start to fund raise and improve the park even further. Three of us ran 5 km back, and feeling the heat, we had some refreshments at the Phoenix.

Well done to Theodore who ran with leggings on! Yesika for running the longest group run distance of 10 km on her second outing! Jyothsna for recovering from injury to join us for the litter pick! Ruslan for being superfit, doing extra running and exercises en route.

Thanks to all those GoodGym members who came along to the community day for the Tiny Forest Barnet on Sunday. It was a lovely sunny warm day. Perfect conditions to do a little bit of litter, picking, weeding and of course, some citizen science. It was great to see some young families visiting as well as all ages of the community. The trees seem to be flourishing, and we found it tricky to negotiate a route. But there’s still lots of weeding to do if you find some time. We hope to go back soon. Thanks for coming along and please do encourage anybody to visit the Tiny Forest and take part in the citizen science or just enjoy the green space.

Please also check out and share the following about a Tiny Forest tour. If you know anybody in these locations, please forward on the details.

Tiny Forest volunteer and his dog embark on a Tiny Tour to inspire urban communities to connect with nature

GoodGym and Tiny Forest volunteer Paul Salman, and his dog Gus, are taking to the road in their campervan on a Tiny Tour this August, visiting seven Tiny Forests from Oxford to Nottingham. Travelling almost 200 miles over 11 days, Paul will meet with local communities to encourage them to spend time in and connect with their local Tiny Forest through a variety of activities including yoga, forest maintenance, and citizen science. Everyone who is based along the route is invited to come along and support Paul on his journey and discover their local Tiny Forest. The Tour will begin on 14 August at Witney, Earthwatch Europe’s first ever Tiny Forest, planted in March 2020. And having reached his final destination, the tour will come to an end at Bulwell Park in Nottingham on 24 August. Paul became a Tree Keeper volunteer for Mutton Brook Tiny Forest in Barnet, London, through membership of his local GoodGym group. The group regularly meets at the Tiny Forest, bringing together GoodGym’s mission to do social good and the nature and wellbeing benefits of Tiny Forest. Inspired by the active community in Barnet, Paul decided to embark on a ‘Tiny Tour’ to discover some of the other Tiny Forests in the network, engage with their local communities, and inspire more people to get involved. There are over 200 Tiny Forests across the UK looked after by over 600 Tree Keeper volunteers. The project, pioneered by environmental charity Earthwatch Europe in the UK, is based on the Miyawaki planting method from Japan which aims to create fast-growing miniature woodlands that develop into a natural forest ecosystem as they grow. Each forest is made up of approximately 600 densely planted native trees and shrubs covering a space the size of a tennis court. Located in urban settings, Tiny Forests aim to help mitigate the impacts of climate change, provide havens for wildlife and connect people with nature in their local area. Spending time in natural green spaces like Tiny Forest improves people’s physical and mental wellbeing. GoodGym is a community of people who get fit by doing good. Covering most urban areas across the UK, the GoodGym community run, walk and cycle to do physical tasks for community projects and to support older people. Over 20,000 GoodGymers have carried out over 300,000 good deeds to help older people and community organisations throughout the UK. Paul will be visiting and hosting events at the following Tiny Forest sites: 1. Witney, Oxford - Monday 14 August 2. Meadow Lane, Oxford – Tuesday 15 August 3. Oak Street, Wolverhampton - Friday 18 August 4. Mill Lane, Walsall - Saturday 19 August 5. Queen’s Park, Hinckley - Monday 21 August 6. Holt Drive, Charnwood - Wednesday 23 August 7. Bulwell Hall Park, Nottingham - Thursday 24 August Paul Salman, Tree Keeper and GoodGym volunteer, said: “A Tiny Forest is something that people get very excited about. They quickly understand all the benefits it will bring and see it as a really positive community-building activity, so they just want to get involved. It is representative of what trees do, and more importantly bigger forests do all over the world, to clean the air, slow down water run-off and provide a habitat."

Jack Da Silva, Tiny Forest Lead at GoodGym, said:

"Paul has been instrumental in getting GoodGymers involved in the Mutton Brook Tiny Forest and supporting them in learning more about biodiversity and experiencing the various benefits of being in natural green spaces. We are really excited to follow Paul's journey to inspire even more people to connect with their local Tiny Forest. It is also fantastic to see further collaboration and a strengthening of our partnership with Earthwatch."

Divya Kumar, Community Engagement Coordinator at Earthwatch, said: “When Paul approached us about undertaking a tour of Tiny Forests with plans to host events that connect with and inspire local communities we were thrilled at the idea. We are also pleased to be able to build on our partnership with GoodGym who are helping to link communities with their Tiny Forests across the UK. Using Tiny Forests as spaces to connect with nature and bring people together is what the Tiny Forest movement is all about.”

Find out more about Paul and Gus’s Tiny Tour and how you can get involved at https://earthwatch.org.uk/tiny-tour Sign up for Tiny Forest events at https://earthwatch.org.uk/get-involved/events

About Earthwatch Europe Earthwatch Europe is an environmental charity with science at its heart. We drive the change needed to live within our means and in balance with nature. We do this by: • Connecting people with the natural world • Monitoring the health of our natural resources • Informing the actions that will have the greatest positive impact Earthwatch is pioneering Tiny Forest in the UK, and is working with partners - including businesses, local authorities, schools and communities - to plant, maintain and monitor their Tiny Forest. For further information about Tiny Forests or Earthwatch, visit our website at https://earthwatch.org.uk/get-involved/tiny-forest or email pressoffice@earthwatch.org.uk
About GoodGym GoodGym is a community of people who get fit by doing good. Covering most urban areas across the UK, the GoodGym community run, walk and cycle to do physical tasks for community projects and to support older people. GoodGym arose out of a frustration with normal gyms being a waste of energy and human potential. So instead, GoodGym supports and encourages adults to combine regular exercise with helping isolated and older people, and community projects. You can find out more here: https://www.goodgym.org/about